Lacrosse Headline

Saturday March 10, 2012Gators Soar Past Owls, 20-3

The No. 5 Florida lacrosse team took on Head Coach Amanda
O’Leary’s alma mater, Temple University, this
afternoon in a non-conference matchup at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. Every
healthy Gator recorded a statistic, as Florida cruised to a 20-3 victory over
the Owls. The win lifts Florida to 6-2, while Temple falls to 5-2.

“I think we
played a really strong game for all 60 minutes,” said Assistant Coach Erica
LaGrow. “Our defenders played a great
game; they have been playing at a really high level this season.They have been playing great team
defense and our goalkeepers played really well.Two strong halves on the defensive end.Offensively, I think we came out and
had to make some adjustments.Temple has a great defense and we had to make some adjustments to that
initially, but I think offensively we got ourselves back together and did a
good job.We finished a lot of our
shots.”

Gabi
Wiegand (Bay Shore, N.Y.) led the team
with four goals in the game, and Shannon Gilroy (Huntington, N.Y.) and Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) each recorded three goals and an
assist.

“It’s a great
feeling, you know, to just come out here and play our game, and have everyone
off the bench come in,” said Dashiell. “It was fun, a lot of fun to play.”

Shannon Gilroy
shined in the midfield, recording six draw controls, five ground balls and two
caused turnovers. Dashiell added four draw controls, and Barry earned three
ground balls and two draw controls. Additionally, Mikki Offit (Bethesda, Md.) notched three ground balls and a
draw control.

“I think that we
were winning the draw, and that’s very critical,” Wiegand said. “I mean, you
come up with possession, and we were working on possessing the ball, and making
sure we had the right shot. Taking our time with the shots. I think the attack
did a very good job at seeing the cage and scoring.”

Mikey Meagher (Liverpool, N.Y.) made two saves and allowed just
one goal through the first half, and Cara Canington (Bel Air, Md.) stopped five shots and allowed two
goals in the second half.

Keelin Hood,
Molly Seefried and Missy Schweitzer each recorded a goal for the Owls and
Charlotte Swavola put up their only assist.

Tess Bishop made
five saves and allowed 19 goals in the first 50:59, and Meghan Clothier closed
out the game with a save and a goal.

Dashiell got the
ball rolling at 27:32, roping in a Chesterman pass for the first goal of the
game. Gilroy followed with back-to-back goals, and Grabher put the Gators ahead
4-0 at 20:01. Dashiell netted an unassisted goal at 15:08, before the Owls
finally got on the board with a Swavola-to-Hood score at 14:38.

Dashiell bounced
right back with a goal from Cullen at 14:01, marking the school-record sixth
straight game that Cullen recorded an assist. She also holds the record for
consecutive games with a point, scoring at least once 32 straight games dating
back to Apr. 28, 2010.

The Gators
finished out the half on a 10-0 run, tying the school record for goals in a
half, as they headed to the locker room leading, 15-1.

Gabi Wiegand
opened the scoring in the second half with and unassisted goal, which was
followed by a McCord-to-Gilroy score and then a tally from Erin Graziano to
Taylor McCord. The Owls netted one at 11:33, but Colby Rhea and McCord
responded with a pair of goals.

Temple scored one
more before the final horn blew, as the Gators won by a score of 20-3. Today’s
game marked the school-record third time this season that UF has scored
20-or-more points.

The Gators continue their homestand on Wednesday, Mar. 14, when they
host the Seawolves of Stony Brook University. Opening draw is set for 3 p.m.